


cradle me, i'll cradle you

by capo (gliss)



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4509441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gliss/pseuds/capo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Hakuryuu's first day of high school. Judal makes him cry, and then fixes it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cradle me, i'll cradle you

**Author's Note:**

> literally i don't have an excuse for this i just poured out my feelings. also! i have more backstory headcanons so if you wanna know more i am always happy to share, here or on my [tumblr](http://ginsaan.tumblr.com). title from maccabees' toothpaste kisses. cheers!

 

It’s an exhausting first day. Hakuryuu is exhausted, his uniform limp and listless, and somehow, throughout the course of the day, his hair had come undone from all the pins he’d stuck in it and fallen in a dark, girly curtain around his face.

He’s barely out of the classroom, eager to be on his way home – Hakuei’s cooking always brings tears to his eyes, but every year on the first day, she always  _buys_  his favorite snacks – when a dark, excited blur literally comes out of nowhere and flattens him into the wall. A few of his classmates giggle, amused to see the way his cheeks redden almost out of reflex, but a glance at the newcomer shuts them up fast.

Judal clicks off the dark look. Caps it off. Same deal. The murderous expression on his face vanishes, replaced by a sappy, theatrical smile, complete with watering eyes that waver scarlet at him.

“Haaakuuuuryuuuuuuu,” comes the familiar, familiar whine.

Hakuryuu sighs. “Judal.”

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” Judal demands, his ever-restless hands crawling up the front of Hakuryuu’s blazer, coming to tug playfully at his tie.

“No,” Hakuryuu responds flatly. He’s  _tired_. Classes are  _tiring_  – he can’t turn off the way he strains too hard to catch every bit of the lesson if he tried. “I want to go home.”

“I’ll walk you home!” Without another word, Judal yanks him off the wall, causing him to stumble forwards, barely catching himself before stumbling right into Judal’s waiting arms. Judal doesn’t look disappointed, though, just laughs in a way that’s way too exhilarated, taking hold of his hand and leading him through the hallways until they’re out under brilliant sunlight. “Kouen let me borrow his magic carpet.”

Hakuryuu makes a small noise. He’s heard of the aforementioned magic carpet, same as everyone else. More importantly, he’s heard of all the unscrupulous activities that take place in the back seat of the magic carpet. He doesn’t doubt Judal wanting to partake in said activities one bit.

“Say, Hakuryuu, wanna come to the Dungeons with me?” Judal asks casually, and Hakuryuu, who had been gazing out at the flowering trees along the walk, chokes on a flower petal.

“That’s a  _club_ , Judal. I’m  _sixteen_.”

“So? I went when I was  _fifteen_.” Judal’s teeth flash against the sunlight and the blue sky. “Come on, come with me!”

“Didn’t I just say I wanted to go  _home_?”

“But your house is the opposite direction of where I wanna go,” Judal points out. Evidently the logic of walking – or driving, rather – someone home is lost on him. “Come spend time with me. I like spending time with  _you_ , and it’s been two whole years since we got to hang out after school together.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Hakuryuu protests. Feebly. He always caves around Judal – it doesn’t make any sense, like the universe is trying to get back at him for some past life.

Judal doesn’t look amused now. They come to a stop under the shade of a large cherry blossom. Hakuryuu can’t help thinking how much like a scene from some cheesy anime this all looks like, except it’s the first day of school, his first day of high school  _ever_ , so this stuff shouldn’t even be happening. Right? Judal draws close to him, suddenly looking his age, his serious eyes darkening.

“Hakuryuu,” he says, and Hakuryuu feels his heart racing despite it all, sweat building at the back of his neck even though the gentle, picturesque breeze is lifting his damp hair from it.

“I don’t think –”

“Why are you  _no fun anymore_?”

“What?”

“You used to be so  _cute_ ,” Judal continues, and the serious tone in his voice is starting to wear off, much to Hakuryuu’s annoyance. “What did you  _do_  while I was gone? You were hanging around the shorty brat and his friends, weren’t you? Why don’t you just go with them, huh? Why aren’t they here? Is it ‘cause they don’t want you around anymore?”

“I’m  _sorry_?” Hakuryuu manages, after somewhat of a shocked silence, but it’s too late to hide the crack in his voice. With a frustrated sob, he starts to cry. He hates how easily he cries, even more how easily he cries in front of Judal, even more when Judal is the direct cause of his crying so easily. “I’m  _sorry_  I have friends who aren’t  _you_! You’re not even that nice to me!”

Judal wipes his tears roughly with his thumbs and then his sleeves, just like he used to when they were kids, but the damage has already been done. Hakuryuu turns away and drops his face in his hands, feeling extremely robbed.

“Why the fuck are you  _crying_?” Judal demands. “I wasn’t done –”

Hakuryuu would rather die than tell Judal that he’d been expecting an entirely different set of words to come out of Judal’s mouth, so he just splutters. “Just–! Just –”

“I was gonna say, good riddance. You’re way too good for the brat and the idiot and that girl, whatever her name was –”

“Morgiana,” snaps Hakuryuu wetly.

“– Morgana,” Judal finishes incorrectly. “You’re too good for  _everyone_.”

Hakuryuu wipes his eyes with his own sleeves, still with his back turned. “That makes me feel a lot better,” he says sarcastically.

“That’s why I love you so much,” says Judal next, startlingly. “I mean, it’s kind of my thing.”

“Your. Thing.” Hakuryuu sniffles. Right. He should have known Judal was going to do something like this, something so utterly stupid and roundabout that he probably wouldn’t have believed it without experiencing it firsthand.

Judal’s hands come to rest on his shoulders, not exactly gently – he’s still a boy with a rough, too-bright voice and enough boundless energy to habitually knock over old ladies crossing the street – and turn him around. Hakuryuu looks uneasily into his face to see a smile, half-mischievous and half-twisted. “Yeah.”

But it works, damn him. It clears his tears away like a departing storm.

“… you’re an idiot, Judal,” Hakuryuu says, finally. His fingers curl into Judal’s. “Take me home.”

“Eh?  _Ehhh?_  Aren’t you gonna say anything back?”

Hakuryuu considers this for a few moments. He looks pointedly at their joined hands. “If you want to spend more time with me, ditch the magic carpet.”

He looks up at the pretty sky, the fragrant flowers, the blinding sun, away from the brilliance on Judal’s face. “I don’t mind walking.”

 

 

//  **end.**


End file.
